


Much Like Falling

by Aiffe



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - High School, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2008-09-13
Updated: 2009-10-11
Packaged: 2017-11-08 01:11:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/437486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aiffe/pseuds/Aiffe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kagome tries to save the delinquent Kagura, while looking after her twin sister Kikyou.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The first part of this was an open-ended oneshot written for [iyfic-contest](http://iyfic-contest.livejournal.com)'s theme, "High School AU." (It won first place.) It was an interesting world, so I explored it a bit in two more chapters, and did have some cool ideas that were unfortunately never explored, but this is officially an abandoned work, sorry about that.

That's her over there. Kagura, the principal's daughter, smoking a cigarette behind the school. Her hair's been dyed so many times the color refuses to take, leaving her with a muddy rainbow. Her makeup is equally unnatural, though it fails to distract from the livid bruise on her left cheek. There are rumors, of course, about her father. No one would be surprised. With a mouth like that, anyone would hit her. But it could just as easily be the tough boys she hangs out with. No one knows where she goes, what she does, what's been done to her.  
  
Kagome freezes when Kagura turns her gaze on her, angry, accusing. “What are _you_ looking at?” Kagura demands. Kagome falters. Kagura's nails are long and sharp, not acrylics but real nails, the kind that could draw blood. She's heard stories. Everyone has.  
  
“I, ah,” Kagome starts unevenly. “Can you spare a smoke?” She doesn't smoke, of course. What would her mother think? What would Kikyou-nee-chan say? But she takes the cigarette from Kagura, and puts it in her mouth. Kagura looks at her intently, holding the lighter underneath her chin, but not flicking it. She blows a plume of smoke in Kagome's face, and Kagome nearly collapses coughing, accidentally spitting her cigarette onto the grass.  
  
“You don't even smoke. Idiot,” Kagura says, picking up Kagome's cigarette and shoving it back in her pack. “So what do you want?”  
  
“To talk.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“I don't know.”  
  
Kagura regards her with suspicion. “If this is some attempt to 'save' me...if you're offering to dye my hair back or help me with my homework or reform me in any way—”  
  
“No. That's not it.”  
  
“You want something, though. Drugs, maybe? I don't have any, but I can tell you who—”  
  
“No.” Kagome shakes her head. “Nothing like that.” She takes a deep breath. Kagura isn't making this easy. “Do you ever...” she pauses, uncertain, “have weird dreams?”  
  
“No,” Kagura says easily. “Never.”  
  
“Not even—”  
  
“I don't dream.” Kagura shrugs lightly. “I never have.”  
  
Kagome wants to say that that's impossible, that maybe she forgets her dreams, but she surely dreams them, everyone dreams...but she sees Kagura's face, calm, beautiful, her eyes gleaming just a little too red, and in that moment she believes that Kagura has never dreamed.  
  
“Then,” Kagome says, searching, “a feeling, maybe. Like we should be somewhere else.”  
  
Kagura exhales smoke, and watches it thread through the air. Kagome thinks, strangely, that she doesn't smoke for the high or to rebel; she smokes to become a part of the air, to fly. “All the time,” Kagura says. “But there's nothing else to do, nothing else for us to be.” She looks suddenly at Kagome again. “You're her sister, aren't you? You used to have longer hair.”  
  
Kagome puts a hand to her short-shorn hair, self-consciously. “We're twins,” she says. “I hated getting confused with her.”  
  
“She's quite popular.”  
  
“I know. That was the problem.” Kagome doesn't say any more. She doesn't need to.  
  
Kagome shivers, and Kagura takes off her torn denim jacket and hands it to her. Kagome takes it and puts it on, even though it smells of smoke.   
  
“Does your sister have these dreams too?” Kagura says, the scorn almost gone from her voice, giving way to curiosity.  
  
“At night? I don't know,” Kagome says. “Maybe. We're close, but...she doesn't tell me everything. But as you know, she faints sometimes, due to her medical condition. She wakes in a terror, crying that she dreamed she was dead. She seems very strong about it, but she's always afraid of passing out again, as though it really were like dying.”  
  
Kagura closes her eyes, listening. “Is that really so scary?”  
  
“What, dying? I'd say so.”  
  
Kagura shrugs, again. “There's this guy. Wild guy. Older than me. We go for motorcycle rides. The way he rides, you'd think he was immortal. I'm not, but I ride with him. When we're the fastest thing on the highway, when we go too fast around the turns on mountain roads, or pass a whole string of traffic on the wrong side of the road, I see death. My death. You'd think I'd scream for him to slow down. Stop riding with him. But I don't. I only say one word: 'faster!' Like if we went fast enough, we could outpace death, outrun life itself, and be free.” For a moment she's lost in her own words, seeing the road blur and feeling the cutting wind.   
  
“One of my dreams was about you,” Kagome says, a new urgency in her voice. “They say girls of the Higarashi line have a gift...so please, be careful, Kagura-san.” She puts her hand on Kagura's shoulder, and Kagura looks at her, surprised. There's something between them then, something unsaid, maybe something that can never be said. Kagome's eyes plead with her, and surely, if she hadn't before, Kagura knows she is mortal.  
  
Before the surprise can give way to contempt, a deep voice calls their attention, and both girls whirl around guiltily. “Smoking again, Kagura?” It's the principal, Kagura's father, Naraku. Kagura looks at him like she wants to put her cigarette out in his eye, but drops it, and grinds it out slowly beneath her school-regulation pennyloafer. She glares at her father all the while, and her face colors, darkening her bruise.  
  
“Higurashi-san,” Naraku says, “were you—”  
  
“Of course not,” Kagura cuts in. “This goody-goody? She was just lecturing me, trying to save me. The idiot.” She sneers. “I told her not to, but she doesn't listen very well.” Kagura looks at Kagome meaningfully as she says this.  
  
Naraku smiles genially. “I do appreciate your efforts, Higurashi-san, but really, delinquents like this one are best left to the professionals.”  
  
Kagome can't explain why or how, but her heart fills with terror. She knows that what she fears isn't detention, or the ruining of her reputation, but something deeper, more primal. Her vision darkens, and she thinks that she must have inherited her sister's weakness after all, because it feels as though death itself has come to swallow her. She tries to focus on Kagura's brave, foolish words, tries to see the road speeding past and feel nothing but the wind, clinging to the back of some strange, reckless man, but as Kagura and her father walk away she falls to her knees, and sees only an empty field of flowers.


	2. Chapter 2

Kagome is still reeling when she finally finds her sister. She spots her with her boyfriend, getting ready to head home. He lives on the opposite side of town, but of course he'll walk her to her place first. Kagome is used to it.

Kikyou-nee-chan sure can pick them, Kagome thinks ruefully. Before dating her, Inuyasha was the best-known student who was never actually in class. Even if he only graced the classroom with his presence every other week, people remembered him because of his striking platinum blond hair that he'd inherited from his foreign father. Hair so light that it appeared almost white was considered very unusual, and for a half-Japanese to have it was nothing short of striking. Of course he got noticed. The fact that he grew it longer than most girls didn't exactly help his obscurity any.

Kagome remembers that she'd had a crush on him back then. But all the girls had. She remembers giggling with the other girls making indecent jokes about him and the other cute boys. She remembers that that stopped when he started dating Kikyou. And she has quietly hated him since the day he kissed her.

She follows them, Inuyasha carrying both his books and Kikyou's, the two in easy camaraderie. They don't see her, they don't look back. They only have eyes for each other.

You would think, thinks Kagome, that with all the time he spends making goo-goo eyes at her, he would know how to tell her apart from her twin.

No one knows about Inuyasha kissing her. Even Inuyasha himself probably doesn't know. Kikyou-nee-chan is always saying that his vision is bad, he needs glasses. Probably why he fell so far behind in school. It's just like that. He walked up to her, put his arms around her, and before she could object, kissed her on the mouth. "Inuyasha-san!" she said in shock, and he said, "Kikyou-san!" teasingly.

He probably hadn't known yet that Kikyou even had a twin. Kagome remembers him looking a bit uneasy at their introduction later, but he never said anything.

It was the day he kissed her that she cut her hair. Inuyasha hasn't made another mistake yet, so it seems to have been worth it.

Still. That had been her first kiss. Kagome cannot forgive him.

She might forgive him more easily if he were ugly.

Up ahead, Kikyou passes out in a dead faint.

Kagome is by her side almost before Inuyasha is there. Inuyasha looks momentarily surprised, but doesn't question her presence. They're twins. They're always doing weird stuff like that.

"Should we get her to a hospital?" Inuyasha asks. There's a little panic in his voice. She's fainted before, but never while he was alone with her.

Kagome remains calm. "No, she's been to hospitals before. They can't find a thing wrong with her. The best thing is just to take her home. She'll wake up soon enough. Maybe even before we get there," she adds optimistically. She doesn't mention the state Kikyou is usually in when she does wake up.

Inuyasha nods. "I'll carry her and my books, can you carry her books?"

"Sure."

Inuyasha hands Kagome Kikyou's books, and with his backpack on his back and both hands free, he picks up Kikyou gently. They continue, with Kikyou over his shoulder, her black hair falling over his back like a shroud.

For a while there is nothing but their footfalls on the sidewalk, and the occasional awkward stares of passers-by.

"This way?" Inuyasha asks at a turn, as if he had not walked this route so many times before.

"Yes," Kagome says.

"So, uh, what do you usually do when this happens?"

"Just put her in a comfortable place to rest. She comes around soon enough. It can be as little as ten minutes, or as much as an hour. If it happens at school, they put her on the cot in the nurse's office."

"And the doctors don't know anything?"

Kagome shakes her head. "They couldn't find anything. But then of course Grandpa goes on about how it's not a physical ailment, she's on a spirit quest." She snorts, showing what she thinks of that theory. "The worst is that Kikyou-nee-chan believes him. Kikyou-nee-chan believes everything Grandpa says. There's a reason she's the favorite."

Inuyasha thinks on that a moment. "Spirit quest, huh? I wonder."

"Don't tell me you believe that kind of stuff."

"Well, I don't really know. It might be a load of bull, or it might not."

"Pfft. You and Kikyou-nee-san deserve each other."

"Well, I don't usually think about that kind of stuff much," Inuyasha says. "But considering those dreams she's been having lately, you have to wonder."

"Dreams?"

"She didn't tell you?" Inuyasha asks in surprise.

"No," Kagome says quietly.

Inuyasha looks uneasy. Whatever the strange politics are between twins, he clearly wants no part in it.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she had weird dreams anyway," Kagome says. "With all those fairy tales Grandpa is always filling her ear with. All princesses and youkai and samurai and magical relics. Always spinning tales to impress people and sell stupid trinkets like that mermaid's hand or those ridiculous shikon no tama replicas."

Inuyasha suddenly looks more interested. "What was that you said? Shikon no tama?"

"Yeah, these little glass balls he's always trying to sell. Something about the history of the shrine. Don't ask him about it, you'll never be able to shut him up. At least not until he sells you a dozen."

They arrive the entrance to the shrine, and begin climbing the many steps. Kagome feels sorry for Inuyasha mounting all those steps carrying both Kikyou and his books, and besides, even the two loads of books she's carrying have her breathing heavily by the time they get to the top.

After that, they go inside and are greeted by her family. Inuyasha lays Kikyou down on her bed, and Kagome lies down there with her. Inuyasha seems to feel he's intruding on something, and goes downstairs, but she can still him talking with her family, even if she can't make out the words. That's loyalty, she thinks. He won't go home until he knows she's okay, even if he feels it's rude or improper to stay in the room with her.

Kagome and Kikyou lie facing each other on the bed, and Kagome closes her eyes and waits.

Finally, she hears a gasp like one surfacing after a long dive, and both their eyes open at once. Kikyou's eyes flit to her surroundings with a sense of unfamiliarity and terror, and Kagome clasps her hands silently.

With a soft breath like a sigh, Kikyou embraces her sister and cries.

Kagome says nothing, does nothing to comfort her other than simply being there. Always Kikyou has been the frail one, the precious one, the gifted or blessed one. Kagome is just Kagome, the spare twin, the one who holds Kikyou when she cries. If she feels envy or resentment, she has forgotten what it was like to live without it.

Only this time is different. This time Kagome is unnerved by an experience she can't explain. She shivers, thinking of the strange almost-blackout and her vision of the field of flowers, and it seems that even thinking of it in Kikyou's presence makes the imagery more powerful.

When Kikyou is calmer, Kagome tells her, "I'm going to tell Inuyasha you're all right. Come down and eat some dinner if you can, otherwise get some rest."

"Inuyasha's here?"

"He carried you home. Very macho."

Kikyou smiles and leans back on her bed. "Tell him I'll see him tomorrow."

Kagome nods and turns to go downstairs.

"Oh, Kagome," Kikyou says, and Kagome turns around. "Is that a new jacket?"

Kagome looks down in surprise. She'd completely forgotten that Kagura had lent her her jacket. "Oh, a friend let me wear it," she says. "I have to give it back."

Downstairs, she relays the message to Inuyasha, who looks relieved. As an afterthought she asks, "Do you know Kagura?" It's not unreasonable. They're both somewhat delinquent.

"Kagura, the principal's daughter?"

"Yeah."

"I know her. I think my brother's dating her or something."

"Oh really!" Kagome exclaims. This is more information than she thought she'd get. "I didn't know you had a brother. Does he go to our school?"

"No, he's older," Inuyasha says. "Only a half-brother anyway...it's a long story."

"I see," Kagome says. "The reason I mentioned Kagura is, she lent me this jacket, and I don't know if I'll be able to find her in school again, given we're in different classes, and despite living with the principal her attendance record is spotty."

"Give it to me," Inuyasha says gruffly, "she'll probably even be at my place tonight. She practically lives there these days." His tone leaves no doubt as to how distasteful he finds this arrangement.

"Actually, I wanted to return it to her in person."

"Okay," Inuyasha says, and heads off.

"No, wait, I meant," Kagome says nervously, "Is it okay if I go with you?"

"Look, I'm not walking you there, walking back here, and walking there again. I do need to sleep sometime."

"You don't have to walk me home, stupid. I'm not some delicate flower like my sister."

Inuyasha looks torn. "Isn't your mom going to freak if you go across town with some boy this late on a school night?"

Kagome rolls her eyes. "Moooom!" she calls loudly. "I'm going out. With a boy. To have hot, nasty sex with his brother and their friends. And do drugs."

"Okay, dear. Just be home in time to walk your sister to school, okay?"

Inuyasha blinks. "Wow."

"Yeah. I know. Let's go."

"I always thought your family was more...protective," Inuyasha says as they head out the door.

"They are. Just not with me."


	3. Chapter 3

The first ten minutes or so they walk in awkward silence, Kagome beginning to wonder if this Inuyasha fellow is such a nice person after all. The way he acts with her is completely different from how he acts with Kikyou. She remembers how her friend Yuka, who had perhaps caught the Inuyasha crush worst of all, said that Kikyou had tamed him, that she'd never seen anything like it.

Naturally, whatever power Kikyou possesses over him has skipped the younger twin.

"So, uh," Kagome says, "what TV shows do you like?"

"I don't have a TV," Inuyasha says candidly.

"No TV? Wow, and Kikyou-nee-chan said you were a luddite for not having a cell phone!" She whistles. "What are you, in the Middle Ages? Or are your parents the really stingy type?"

"My parents are dead," Inuyasha says, his tone completely even and uninflected.

"Oh. Uh," Kagome says eloquently. Kikyou would know the right thing to say, dammit. But what do you say after that? 'There, there'? "Excuse me," she mutters, "I just need to get my foot out of my mouth. It'll only take a minute."

Inuyasha snorts. Aha, Kagome thinks. So he isn't made of stone. Encouraged, she continues, "I mean, I understand if you don't want to talk about it—and I understand if you do—because of my dad, you see..."

"I don't." And just like that, the ice has frozen over again. "I don't want to talk about it."

Maybe another twenty minutes pass, Kagome wishing fervently for the ground to swallow her up, Inuyasha calm, his expression unreadable. But things on Kagome's mind have a way of getting said.

"You're kind of a jerk," she blurts out.

"Keh! That's uncalled for," Inuyasha retorts.

"But you—!"

"You are the one who wanted to probe into my 'dark and painful past.' Considering we hardly know each other, you don't think that was a little inappropriate?"

"Hey, I tried to talk about TV and family, the usual suspects. But you had to be Mr. Glum and Serious. Not my fault every facet of your life seems to fall into the 'dark and painful' category."

"We could talk about your life," Inuyasha suggests.

"Like what?" Kagome asks, momentarily intrigued.

"I don't know. TV. Family. Your sister, maybe."

Cold anger settles on Kagome's heart. Is Kikyou all he thinks about? "Why don't you tell me about her? Seems like you know her better than I do."

"What? I'm not the one who shared a womb with her!"

"Well, she doesn't tell me about her dreams. Or anything else, apparently."

"Maybe you didn't ask."

Great. Now she feels guilty, on top of it all. Maybe the jerk is right. Maybe she's been too busy feeling worried about Kikyou, or worse, jealous of her, to actually talk to her. She folds her arms and looks away from Inuyasha.

"You sure you want to come with me tonight?" Inuyasha asks.

"We're almost there, right?"

"Yeah, I guess." For a few moments they just hear the click of their shoes on the pavement. It's already late enough for the streetlights to be on, and Kagome shivers in Kagura's denim jacket. She brought a sweater in her bag, but to put the sweater on she'll have to take the jacket off, which doesn't seem like the best course of action.

They walk in silence a little more, the awkwardness between them almost tangible, until they both hear the sound of a motorcycle revving, and Inuyasha breaks in a run towards it with a swear. Kagome has a good guess why, and takes off after him.

Just ahead, a man and a woman sit on a motorcycle. The woman seems to see them, but looks away. If the man ever saw anything but the road ahead of them, he gives no indication. Inuyasha yells to them, but they ignore him, and the motorcycle speeds off into the night. Kagome watches them pass, and for a moment time seems to slow, almost grinding to a halt in the instant Kagura is level with her, her too-red eyes gleaming behind the black reflective visor of her helmet. She reaches out to steady herself, afraid of a performance like the one behind the school earlier. She catches Inuyasha's arm, and he glares at her, not without concern. "Are you all right, Kagome?"

"Fine...I think I just ran too fast before," she says, and he shakes his head.

"Well," Inuyasha says, as the sound of the departing motorcycle fades away, "we missed them."

Kagome stands there and looks at her feet. It wasn't a short walk here, either.

"Uh," Inuyasha says, "bye." He takes a step away from her, somewhat hesitant, as though his better judgment were against it.

"Wait," Kagome says, hoping she doesn't sound pathetic or anything.

"What?" There's no real edge to his voice, only tiredness. He's rude, she realizes, but it's not aimed at her with any malice. She'd mind it less if he were only just as rude to Kikyou.

"My family probably ate already," Kagome says. "By the time I get back, they may even be getting ready for bed. I don't want to disturb them. Since there's no one at your place, and you have to eat anyway..." she lets herself trail off, hoping her meaning is clear enough.

"Whatever," Inuyasha says. "Hope you like ramen."

Inuyasha leads her up a narrow staircase to a small second-story flat. He fumbles around for the lightswitch a moment, and a single, dim, somewhat flickering light comes on. Kagome wants to remark that perhaps he needs a new lightbulb, but she can imagine why he's not overly eager to see his surroundings. What the dim light reveals is plain, cheap, and ugly. Inuyasha wasn't lying about not having a TV, that was for sure. While the room isn't noticeably dirty, there's a pervasive smell of mildew.

"It's, uh..." Kagome grasps for the words. "Really nice!"

Inuyasha just grins and winks at her. He then swings open the cabinet, which is filled from top to bottom with packages of instant ramen.

"Wow," Kagome says. "You must really like ramen."

Inuyasha wrinkles up his nose. "I hate it." He then busies himself in the kitchen preparing it.

"But why?" Kagome asks.

"Oh, just my asshole of a brother," Inuyasha grumbles. "The government requires him to take care of me, but they don't require him to take good care of me. Ramen is cheaper than actually buying real food."

Kagome settles herself at the kotatsu, and turns the heater on. The futon hanging over the kotatsu is soiled and slightly stiff, and Kagome cringes. "Maybe he's just trying his best. What does he do?"

Inuyasha glares at her. "Nothing. He's a lazy fatass who gets a check from his mother every week, and would rather spend it on his fancy new bike and high-school floozies than put food on his table."

"That's shameful," Kagome says. It's all she can say. It's honest.

"Yeah," Inuyasha grumbles. "You're telling me."

Kagome pulls her homework out of her bag and sets it on the table. "Good idea," Inuyasha says. "Do mine too, would ya?" He tosses his bag over to her.

"No!" Kagome says incredulously. "I'm not going to cheat for you!"

"It's not cheating. I'd probably get as many answers as you, this is just faster."

It's true, Kagome thinks, his grades have improved since Kikyou took an interest in him. Could it be that Kikyou... Kagome thinks in alarm. No. Her sister wouldn't cheat for some guy. Then what's with this attitude?

Kagome pointedly pushes Inuyasha's backpack aside, and starts her own homework. "Look, you want ramen or not?" Inuyasha says, waving the packet threateningly.

"You're saying, do your homework, or no food?" Kagome says. He has balls, I'll give him that, she thinks to herself.

Inuyasha smiles evilly. "Fair trade."

Kagome grumbles and pulls his homework out. She can start with the busywork. They have most of the same sheets, and she can just check the same things on both without too much effort. She'll leave the ones requiring actual thought—or telltale handwriting—to him. Since these questions are fairly easy, she tells herself he would have gotten them anyway. She smirks a little. She'll find out tomorrow if he can get the hard stuff on his own.

Fortunately for Kagome, ramen noodles are quick to cook, and before long Inuyasha is setting down three bowls at the table.

Kagome looks at the third bowl in surprise. "For Sesshoumaru?" But before Inuyasha can answer, a little girl with wild hair dashes out of one of the bedrooms and takes her place at the table.

Kagome looks at the child in shock. She's no older than eight, surely, and unlike Inuyasha and what she's glimpsed of his brother, has normal black hair. "Your sister?" Kagome asks.

"No," Inuyasha says, and is not any more forthcoming.

"Family of yours?"

"No."

Inuyasha and the kid slurp their noodles, and Kagome just sits there, this unexplained mystery in front of her. There are only two bedrooms, which means either the boys share one, or she shares with one of the boys. She feels a pang of maternal concern for the child.

"Well...who is she?" Kagome demands.

"Rin is Rin," the girl says enigmatically with her mouth full.

"That answers everything, of course," Kagome says. "But does Rin have a family?"

Rin stops momentarily, looking hurt, and Inuyasha cuts in. "Jeez, Kagome, why are you freaking out over the kid?"

"Well, you can't just take little girls and keep them as pets!" Kagome fairly shouts.

"Sesshoumaru can," Inuyasha says. "She's a foster child. Sesshoumaru keeps her for the monthly check."

Rin smiles widely. "Sesshoumaru-sama gets money from the government for taking care of me."

Kagome's jaw drops. "And then he feeds her ramen noodles and pockets the money?"

"Yup," Inuyasha says. "Told you he was a scumbag."

Kagome starts getting her things together. "I'm going home."

"But you didn't finish your soup," Inuyasha says. Rin pulls Kagome's bowl over to herself surreptitiously.

"I'll live." She scrawls out a note quickly in her notebook, puts it in the pocket of Kagura's jacket, and tosses the jacket over to Inuyasha. "Give this to her when she gets back, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever."

Just as Kagome is storming out the door, Inuyasha says, "And about that time...I'm sorry, okay?"

"That time?"

"You know, when I...It was a mistake, all right?"

"Yeah. I know." She closes the door behind her, and pulls the sleeves of her sweater down over her hands.

The trip home is mostly uneventful. She gets a bit lost and doesn't recognize anything for a while, and passes a park, deserted in the dark. The night wind blows over it, bringing the sweet smell of flowers, and Kagome feels inexplicably uneasy. But soon she finds her way back to a major street, and from there it is easy to get home.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's never even been posted anywhere before, but I found it kicking around on my hard drive, and thought it might be of interest to anyone actually following this old yarn.

“So tell me the truth,” Kagome says.

 

Kagura smiles coyly. “I can't do that. I can only give you _my_ truth.”

 

Kagome nods. “I want to hear it.”

 

The denim jacket lies on the floor. Principal Naraku stands over it, a piece of paper in his hand. “What is the meaning of this?” he demands.

 

“It's, uh,” Kagura says, and she attempts to smile but it doesn't quite coalesce. She turns to Kagome again. “That's my dad. If he really is my dad. Maybe he just took me as a baby like the psycho he is. You know, I actually hope for that every single day.”

 

Naraku strikes her, and she falls down. Kagura doesn't take her eyes off Kagome, or change her expression. “He's very protective of me,” she says. “Won't let anyone hurt me. Won't let me hurt myself.”

 

He rolls her over with a polished shoe, and regards her coldly. During this entire outburst he has shown no outward sign of rage other than the violence itself. This seems...routine. “Did you see that boy again? Is this some kind of code?” Punctuating this remark is a short, sharp kick to her ribs.

 

“That's his job, you see. He's not good at sharing,” Kagura concludes.

 

“Is he the one who kills you?” Kagome asks.

 

“Kills me?” Kagura replies. “But I'm not going to—oh god, no.” Naraku is gone, and Kagura puts a hand to her chest which comes away bloody. “Sonnavuh...”

 

Flower petals blow in the wind, and Kagome catches one of them. It crinkles in her hand like paper, and Kagome sees that it is a folded note. She unfolds it and sees her own handwriting:

 

_Beware the flowers._

-

 

“Hey. You. Earth to Kagome.”

 

Kagome squints blearily. Did she really fall asleep outside? And sitting up, no less.

 

“Damn, girl, whatever you've been smoking, share.” It's Kagura, peering curiously at her.

 

“Yeah, right. It's called: I walked to the other side of town to give you your stupid jacket, and got to bed late.”

 

“ _You_ got to bed late,” Kagura says with a chuckle. “That's rich.”

 

Kagome smiles. “Are we friends, now?”

 

This seems to have been the wrong thing to say. Kagura draws back, her expression suddenly distant. “I don't have any friends.”

 

Kagome puts her hand over Kagura's. “Well, you do now.”

 

“Not hardly. I just wanted to see if you were having a fit or something.”

 

“I was just napping in the sun!”

 

“You were muttering,” Kagura says with an uneasy shrug.

 

“Oh. Did I...say anything?”

 

“Yeah. You told me to take a mango and ram it up my ass.”

 

“I did _not_!” Kagome protests.

 

“You will when I tell the story,” Kagura says, her elusive grin showing itself again. “Unless you want to fill me in on what you really dreamed?”

 

Kagome opens her mouth to speak, hesitates, blushes, and looks at her knees. “The mango was actually a really good guess.”

 

The school bell rings. “Oh,” Kagome says, fishing about in her bags for her cell phone to give her the time, “is recess over?”

 

“Recess has _been_ over. Welcome to the wonderful world of delinquency.” She sounds completely bored and jaded, and somehow, this is comforting. Kagome has missed class, and the world had not ended.

 

Kagome gets up and brushes off her skirt. “Actually, I had a dream about you,” she says.

 

“Oh? Me?”

 

“Every time I close my eyes it's been you. That's why I tried to talk to you before.”

 

Her reaction is not quite what Kagome expects. “And in your dreams, am I...happy?”

 

“No, not really.” She can't lie to her.

 

“Pfft. Figures.”

 

-

 

“Come _on_ , Kagome,” Ayumi pleads, tugging at her arm. “Live a little!”

 

“I have to walk my sister home,” Kagome says.

 

“She already left,” Eri says.

 

“What? You're lying, she wouldn't.” They'd walked home together every say since...well, since always.

 

“She told me to tell you. She's walking home with Inuyasha tonight,” Eri explains.

 

Well, wasn't _that_ just spectacular. Kagome wasn't even sure which part of that made her more jealous.

 

“Why are you making that face? Doesn't that mean you can have fun tonight?” Ayumi asks, smiling warmly. “No school tomorrow.”

 

“Okay,” Kagome says. “Where are we going?”

 

“First, we've got to go find Houjou-kun,” Ayumi says.

 

Eri titters at that. “Kagomeee, I think he likes you.”

 

Kagome blushes. “Stop it.”

 

“What, don't you like him?” Eri asks. “I think he's pretty nice.”

 

Kagome isn't sure how to answer that, so they go off to find Houjou. _Do I like him?_ she asks herself. _He's a nice boy, isn't he?_

 

They end up going to an arcade and just having fun for a few hours. Kagome finds herself always looking over her shoulder for Kikyou, then remembering she's not there. Houjou is, though—and gentle, and friendly, with a comforting sort of presence. For that brief while, she forgets about Kikyou and Kagura and Inuyasha, and dreams stay in the dream-world.

 

-

 

“You three live around here, right?” Houjou asks, and Eri, Ayumi and Yuka nod. “You don't mind if I take Higurashi-san home, do you?”

 

The three girls giggle and give their assent, poking each other and whispering things as they go. Kagome knows perfectly well what _that's_ all about. Just another reason she can't wait to be out of junior high.

 

“Don't mind them,” Houjou says, looking somewhat embarrassed. “It's just that your house is the one that's not close to the arcade.”

 

“You live near me?” Kagome asks.

 

“Yeah, actually. I see you all the time when I walk to school.” There's something slightly hurt about his tone, an implied, _Don't you see me?_

“Okay, then,” Kagome says, smiling at him. “But what I still don't understand is, why are we going _this_ way?” He's led them off the main roads onto the sinuously winding back streets; a labyrinth of loops and dead ends that no one would navigate unless they had business there. She looks uneasily at the setting sun, turning the sky a brilliant burnt orange. She's heard plenty of cautionary tales about guys that lead girls off into the middle of nowhere. Even if Houjou seems like a nice boy...it occurs to her that she doesn't even know his given name.

 

Houjou's excited smile does little to allay these fears. “I want to show you something, Higurashi-san.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“You'll see!” He grabs her wrist and pulls her into an alleyway.

 

“I..I don't like this, Houjou-kun,” she says, trying to remember the way they came.

 

“You should call me Akitoki,” he says. “We're friends now, right?”

 

“Friends...?” Kagome echoes. They emerge into another street, and Houjou's pace returns to normal. He lets go of her arm, and gives her a conspiratory glance.

 

“We're in luck. She's here.” Kagome follows Houjou's line of sight to an old woman hunched on the ground, various artifacts laid out around her. Her fear is quickly overwhelmed by curiosity, and looking at Houjou again, she feels silly for ever doubting him.

 

They reach the old woman, and she looks up at them in a slow, timeless way. “It was fate that we met here tonight,” she says. “I am called Tsubaki, the witch.”

 

Houjou smiles. “She's really good. Go ahead, Kagome.”

 

Kagome has goosebumps. She isn't entirely sure where exactly she stands on the supernatural. On the one hand, the way her grandfather drones on about ridiculous things has practically turned her into an atheist. She's reasonably sure that common sense has a better explanation for just about anything than her grandfather's ramblings. On the other hand, growing up a Higurashi means growing up with power. She isn't sure how to reconcile the surety of what she feels within herself and from Kikyou with her reasonable stance on magic.

 

“T-this isn't really my thing, Hou—Akitoki-kun,” Kagome blurts out. “I get enough of this spiritual claptrap at home, I don't—”

 

The old woman chuckles softly to herself. “Afraid I might actually be right?”

 

“No, that's not what I said at all.”

 

“Then, humor the boy. It's his money, is it not? What do you stand to lose? If I am wrong, you can laugh about what a fool I am.”

 

“All right,” Kagome says, and sits down in front of the old woman. “What do you need me to do?”

 

“Let me see the hand you write with,” Tsubaki says, and Kagome sticks her right hand out. Tsubaki turns it around to look at the palm, and traces the lines a moment in concentration. “Hm, that's odd,” she says.

 

“What's odd?”

 

“Where's the rest of it?” She picks up Kagome's left hand and examines this as well, then shakes her head. “No, impossible.”

 

Kagome glances up at Houjou as if to ask, _is this lady kidding?_ and is disappointed to find him enthralled by the witch's words. “Chump,” she mutters under her breath.

 

“You don't have a past,” Tsubaki says. “It's as though you've been split in two. All I can see is a future.”

 

“Split in two?” Houjou says, excited. “It's so funny you'd say that! She has a twin, you know!”

 

“Don't volunteer information,” Kagome says. “That's how they scam you.”

 

Tsubaki snorted. “You doubt my powers, little girl? I can tell you that there is someone very important to you, someone whose destiny is intertwined with yours, someone you dream of. That person is coming here, now.”

 

“Don't be ridiculous. I don't know any guy like that. My sister's the one with all the luck with boys.”

 

“When that person comes, give them this,” Tsubaki says, handing her a deck of tarot cards. “Wait a moment. It's almost time.”

 

Kagome sits there, holding the deck. “This is stupid,” she says after a few moments. She gets up suddenly, and nearly walks right into Kagura.

 

“Eh? Watch your—” Kagura starts, looking annoyed, then stops at something about Kagome's expression.

 

“Here,” Kagome says, handing Kagura the deck, going through the motions as if still in a dream. “I'm supposed to do this.”

 

Kagura looks at the deck and then at Kagome's face, and seems about to laugh but then decides the better of it. “Fine,” she says, and pulls a card from the middle, which she hands to Kagome without looking at. “Did I win?”

 

With that, Kagura walks off, lighting a cigarette.

 

Kagome looks at the card and freezes. “What is it?” Houjou asks. “Something scary? Death? The Tower?”

 

Kagome shakes her head, and turns the card around. It wasn't even supposed to be in the deck—it was a blank.

 

Tsubaki laughs.


End file.
